Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

[chrishayes]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

When it comes to weather sealing the cover have you ever looked at a soft top on a Jeep? Mine is a 94 and it uses a flexible aluminum channel across the top of the windsheild frame on top of a foam weather stripping then the top itself has a simple flat plastic rim on it that you stretch over the channel then you tighten the rear of the top by raising it slightly. This stretches it tight. Its simple and effective. I will try to take a picture for you. Depending on how wide your top is you may be able to buy the rail channel and a cheap bikini top to scavenge the plastic rail from. About 80 bucks total, and its simple plus replaceable for cheap.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

When it comes to weather sealing the cover have you ever looked at a soft top on a Jeep? Mine is a 94 and it uses a flexible aluminum channel across the top of the windsheild frame on top of a foam weather stripping then the top itself has a simple flat plastic rim on it that you stretch over the channel then you tighten the rear of the top by raising it slightly. This stretches it tight. Its simple and effective. I will try to take a picture for you. Depending on how wide your top is you may be able to buy the rail channel and a cheap bikini top to scavenge the plastic rail from. About 80 bucks total, and its simple plus replaceable for cheap.

That sounds promising. I would appreciate the pics!!!

 

[Nico2112]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Your top looks ace Mark

Really coming together nicely.

About the light pole, I would just leave it black; I agree with Huron, just check out how it looks.

Cheers!

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

I just called the glass shop for an ETA on the glass, they said the "anticipated" delivery date from the glass factory is this coming Monday. That would be great! I'm putting the last coat of paint on the hard top this weekend, then next week the glass can go in, the wipers go in the frames and the frames go on the top. A coat or two of paint on the inside, and it goes on the boat (hopefully for the last time).

 

[drewpster]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Outstanding! Just plain Outstanding. Great work mark. I love to see a project come together. Can't wait to see it completed. I am also interested in how the boat handles with the top in place. Very Happy for you.

 

[bear_69cuda]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Heya Mark!

Looks totally pro dude! Looking so forward to seeing in on the boat! Great news glass arriving Monday!

You do such great work man!

 

[88BLiner]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Hey friend, I just thought that I would add my two cents in on the color of the light. I think that if you are going to tint the windows you should keep the light mount black.

 

[jpmurphy]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Mark:

You have done an outstanding job !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think my next project will be glass and I hope to have 10% of the finished project that you will have when you be done.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

You guys are too kind! LOL!

This morning I went out to do the "last" coat of paint on the top. Saw a sag or two and grabbed the 220 grit to sand them off before painting. Ended up doing the whole top over in 220. Sand, sand, sand and sand some more.

Then washed the top down with plain filtered water, ran a tack cloth over it and boy, it sure feels smooth!

Its like some sick obsession to make things as good as you can. But I have to remind myself its just a boat and I'm doing it in the garage. This is not like one of those hot rod build shows where 6 guys make some old car gorgeous in 6 days.

I am resolved to having a few "bad spots" in order to get on the water!!!! Granted, you probably wouldn't notice unless I point them out.

And my wife is counting the days until she can put the car back in the garage!

I'm going to surf iboats while I have my ice coffee, then go paint. No more prep, I promise.

 

[drewpster]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Its like some sick obsession to make things as good as you can. But I have to remind myself its just a boat and I'm doing it in the garage. This is not like one of those hot rod build shows where 6 guys make some old car gorgeous in 6 days.

I have been a professional mechanic all my life. You can imagine how many custom and crazy creations I have seen in the circles I run in. I have seen everything from six and seven figure ($) restorations, professionally built racers to home build rail buggies. I have had wrenches on some of them including my own low budget builds. I can tell you I have seen some of the highest quality work and creativity coming right out of home garages. It is a special skill that not all people have. You made something, from scratch, of your own design. That is an accomplishment. Chip Foose and Boyd Coddington may get all the press but they have huge budgets and teams of fabricators, engineers and designers backing them up. They deserve their respect. But it is the shade trees, iboaters, weekend warriors who have little and do great things. I think Chip and Boyd would agree. Make no mistake its an art form. Good Job.

 

[redfury]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Two words: "rat rods"...too bad it just doesn't work as well with boats.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Well, guys, all the words of encouragement got me up early today to work on the top. Not raining, so today is the first day this year that I had the top outside. Put it in the driveway to bake in the sun. Oh, boy, the sun showed a bunch of sags and stuff I never saw working in the garage. But otherwise, it looks great! Nice shine, good coverage.

So the windshield frames went on today. Mounted the hinges, wiper motors, and made the electric contacts for the wiper motors.

Here are the electric contacts made from an old stainless steel travel mug, about 3/4" wide. The two pieces attached to the top and stationary (one screw inside, and outside), and the two pieces attached to the frame are spring-like so they rub tight when the top is closed. (Oh, yeah, I have to paint the inside.)

Open a little... Just have to wire them up.

Outside view with the wiper arms on. When parked, they should be on the edge of the glass, not the frame as shown here. Still have to reverse the park in one of the motors so the both park as shown.

Enough with my break, back to the top!

 

[drewpster]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

You might want to check for resistance across the contacts when you finish the wiring if you have a meter. I would check the wire from its source all the way across the contacts to the motor, both positive and negative branches. Anything under .5 ohm and your ok. It would be a good idea to get as much surface area touching each contact as you can.
A good shade tree way of checking would be to run the motors on high for a few minutes using a battery that has been drawn down a little. If you can feel any heat in the contacts or the fuse leading to them you could have resistance issues. (do this test with the system completed and all the wiring run as finished and the battery in the boat battery box) Make good connections with good crimps and protection and it should be fine.
Btw- get a good crimper, the kit crimpers are generally junk.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

You might want to check for resistance across the contacts when you finish the wiring if you have a meter. I would check the wire from its source all the way across the contacts to the motor, both positive and negative branches. Anything under .5 ohm and your ok. It would be a good idea to get as much surface area touching each contact as you can.
A good shade tree way of checking would be to run the motors on high for a few minutes using a battery that has been drawn down a little. If you can feel any heat in the contacts or the fuse leading to them you could have resistance issues. (do this test with the system completed and all the wiring run as finished and the battery in the boat battery box) Make good connections with good crimps and protection and it should be fine.
Btw- get a good crimper, the kit crimpers are generally junk.

Drewpster, thanks for the advice. I'll check the resistance next time I go out. There is quite a bit of tension between the contacts, so I think the resistance should be low enough to not create heat. The stainless is fairly heavy. After the top is on the boat, it will get a few minute run time test like you suggest to see if there is heat buildup. I guess a sprinkler on the windshield should keep it damp enough to simulate real world conditions.

Tomorrow the glass should be in. Can't wait to see it. Hope they got the size right.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Drewpster, I checked the ohms with a multi meter set a 200 ohms. The contacts came in between 0.3 and 0.1 The contacts should be cleaned, as I didn't do anything other than cut them. Probably has a buildup of food, ect on it, and some had a logo printed I need to clean off. Have some SS wool that should do the trick.

Thanks for suggesting the ohms test. Nice thinking.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Glass was delivered to the glass shop Friday, and my absolutely outstanding wife picked it up so it would be home when I got there!

I couldn't wait to check it out. Has a mark on the glass indicating its tempered, and what ANSI standards it meets. Cool.

When I ordered it, they asked if I wanted a "light smoke tint", sounded good, being light, so I went with it. It looks a little darker than I expected. Dark tints are not the best for driving around at night.

Here is one side window installed. If you look, you can see the knob mounted on the inside to slide the window. Had a 3/8" hole drilled in the glass before tempering to mount a knob.

I called NAPA and asked if they had Windshield Adhesive for installing windshields, and they said yes, in the caulk tube. When I got there, it was windshield SEALER and said right on the front "Secondary leak sealer, NOT FOR INSTALLING WINDSHIELDS". Oh well, what did I expect, for these guys to be able to read? I ordered a tube for Monday. Meanwhile, the lip that the windshield glass will rest on was installed. It was cut from a 1x4 PVC board, then run across a router table so the inside is rounded. Its attached with stainless screws and 4200.

Here the glass is resting in place.

Tomorrow the starboard side window track gets epoxied in place, then the glass slides in.

Ordered gas springs to open the windshields, and tomorrow I have to work on the thumb latches for the windsheilds, and also the safety that prevents the side windows from sliding out the back.

I weighed the glass, the front glass is 7 lbs each, the sides are 12 lbs each. Thats about 38 lbs just in glass! Holy Cow! I have to weigh the old glass to see how much that weighs.

 

[redfury]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

mere moments from completion! Looking good Mark! Definitely NOT a hack job

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

mere moments from completion! Looking good Mark! Definitely NOT a hack job

Thank you, my man! Its been a lot of work, but sometimes I even surprise myself how well some things turn out!

I am trying to make it rot-free. So parts like the windshield glass support was ripped from PVC trim board. The side "molding" that supports the window track is PVC 3/4" quarter round I ripped down to 5/8" and epoxied on. But first the area on the top where it would be epoxied to was taped off and sanded down to the bare glass/resin so it would get good adhesion. Even if any water does leak into these areas, being made from solid PVC, I never have to worry about rot!

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Things are looking good, I can't wait to see a pic with it mounted on the boat.

I always wanted to buy one of those boats, almost got one a couple of times, but I havent seen any around here in a long time.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Project "1600 Capri Hard Top" has begun!

Things are looking good, I can't wait to see a pic with it mounted on the boat.

I always wanted to buy one of those boats, almost got one a couple of times, but I havent seen any around here in a long time.

Yeah, the bow riders are more popular, and as you have probably noticed, there have been a few on the forums this season getting repaired. The cuddy version is much more rare. Can you believe I saw this same year/model on a dealers lot for $4500 with worn rotted vinyl, bent bow rail and rust bucket trailer? The nerve of some people!!!!

Once again I have more invested in a boat than its worth. But its what I want, and getting what I want is priceless, right?

Plan is to have it in the water on the 4th of July. I might actually make that date!